# Tupperdor making



## Heathen1990 (Nov 29, 2011)

I was originally going to buy a humidor but then came across pictures of tupperdors and coolidors. And decided to make myself a tupperdor. I plan on buying a good rubbermaid container. And people said to wash it first to get the plastic smell out. So what soap would be best? And when it comes to humidity what would be best to use? From what I understand all i need is the container, cedar sheets, digital hygrometer and could i just use a heartfelt round cigar humidifier 65% or 1 pound 65% rh heartfelt beads? Sorry for the dumb questions but I just want to make sure I get everything right.


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## tiger187126 (Jul 17, 2010)

Heathen1990 said:


> I was originally going to buy a humidor but then came across pictures of tupperdors and coolidors. And decided to make myself a tupperdor. I plan on buying a good rubbermaid container. And people said to wash it first to get the plastic smell out. So what soap would be best? And when it comes to humidity what would be best to use? From what I understand all i need is the container, cedar sheets, digital hygrometer and could i just use a heartfelt round cigar humidifier 65% or 1 pound 65% rh heartfelt beads? Sorry for the dumb questions but I just want to make sure I get everything right.


for a tupperdor i think just non-scented soap would work. i don't think they smell as strong most of time and letting it air out will help a lot. cedar sheets will help hold the RH a little and help the smell. 1 pound of beads sounds a little overboard depending on the size of the tupperdor, but i always recommend kitty litter first. it's cheap and if you don't like it you can always spend more money and get beads down the road.

make sure to calibrate the hygrometer, because you can never be sure it is properly calibrated even if it's advertised that way.

but in sum all you should need is:

tupperware
cedar sheets (not even mandatory)
humidification (kittly litter, beads, or puck, but watch the level of humidity you choose because there's no buffer like a humidor and it's easier to overhumidify)
calibrated hygrometer

a tupperdor is the most cost efficient way to get into having your own cigars at home, and when the bug bites you upgrade to a coolidor with the same principles.


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## Heathen1990 (Nov 29, 2011)

Any recommendations on a good container? As for the kittie litter I will just go to Petsmart and buy some ExquisiCat Crystals Fragrance Free cat litter. When it comes to the blue crystals in the litter do I take them out? And do I have to out anything in the litter like distilled water? And instead of cedar strips couldn't I just buy some cedar cigar trays with dividers?


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## Andrewdk (Feb 3, 2011)

As long as the litter is fragrance free you're good no need to take any crystals out. Heartfelt beads has a good calculator on their website for how much beads you need based on container dimensions, I believe double is used for kitty litter.
Cedar sheets are cheap and can help with RH and add that nice cedar aroma, if you want to buy cedar trays/dividers to use instead that's no problem. Remember to season before putting in sticks though, thin cedar sheets can season pretty quick but trays will need longer. If you put your sticks on unseasoned cedar they are gonna end up crispy critters as the cedar sucks the moisture out.


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## TonyBrooklyn (Jan 28, 2010)

Heathen1990 said:


> Any recommendations on a good container? As for the kittie litter I will just go to Petsmart and buy some ExquisiCat Crystals Fragrance Free cat litter. When it comes to the blue crystals in the litter do I take them out? And do I have to out anything in the litter like distilled water? And instead of cedar strips couldn't I just buy some cedar cigar trays with dividers?


The blue ones are fine no need to remove them!

Check out the thread http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/vb/cigar-accessory-discussion/276966-kitty-litter-set-up.html


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## JCMaduro (Aug 18, 2011)

I would highly recommend the tupperdor type of storage to begin with. I used this container Iris Storage Box With Water Tight Seal 466 Quarts Clear by Office Depot from office depot. Only $15 and it has a water tight seal so it holds the humidity well. I bought 4 lbs of the walmart brand of kitty litter for like $4 and then I got some cigar boxes from my B&M for free. I went with a small Xikar digital that was on sale at the place where I got the boxes. It has been in operation for a little over three months now and works perfectly. Holds the humidity well (65%) and I don't need to do much to maintain it. I used a small lunch meat container I had to hold the kitty litter and yes, use distilled water in the kitty litter.


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## Heathen1990 (Nov 29, 2011)

Purchased a 20 pack and 12 pack of cigars yesterday from CI. So will probably by a bigger container now. But do i need to use cedar sheets? If not what do place my cigars on? And how do you season cedar sheets? Will go shopping for all appliances today.


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## JCMaduro (Aug 18, 2011)

I didn't use any cedar sheets, just the cigar boxes, one is bare cedar the other 3 are paper covered. I put the cigars in the boxes. Works great. Post #12 in this thread http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/vb/cigar-accessory-questions/297241-lockador-question.html has a picture of my set up when I first started. Basically I just put the components in the container, wetted the kitty litter (KL) with a few sprays of distilled water and put the lid on. Waited about a day to see where the humidity was at which was right at 65% and has been good ever since. The container was nice too as it did not have a plastic smell. Now it smells like cigars!


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## Heathen1990 (Nov 29, 2011)

This is the time ordering cigars, so they will come in boxes?


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## JCMaduro (Aug 18, 2011)

Not sure as I do not know what you purchased. It should say if it was a box or not when you ordered. The quantities sound like they could be box quantities. Some cigars come in bundles I believe. I Just purchased my first box this week from CI. The boxes I used came from a cigar store and were empty when I got them. He had stacks of them in the back room.


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## Heathen1990 (Nov 29, 2011)

If they come in boxes couldnt i just keep them in the boxes instead of getting cedar strips? Seems easier that way. But wouldnt i have to season the boxes first? So what would I put the cigars in while the boxes season? Cause from what I read it takes a day or 2 for the boxes to season.


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## JCMaduro (Aug 18, 2011)

If it were me, and they come in boxes, I would freeze them, whole nother discussion and there are many threads on that, and then put the box and all in the tupperdor. They have already been sitting in a humidified atmosphere at CI already so are "seasoned". First thing though is still to get the tupperdor set up. Should be ready to go by the time your order arrives if you start today.


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## JCMaduro (Aug 18, 2011)

Check this thread also http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/vb/cigar-accessory-discussion/302585-tupperdor-about-built-d.html. Looks like another BOTL in the same stage as you. Has some good pics and comments.


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## Heathen1990 (Nov 29, 2011)

Well got 2 containers, got 2 just in case. Some distilled water and containers for the kitty litter when i get it. Ugh Walmart didn't have unscented soap.


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## jeepersjeep (Apr 27, 2011)

It's in the hunting/camping section.


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## Heathen1990 (Nov 29, 2011)

jeepersjeep said:


> It's in the hunting/camping section.


See I never would have thought to look there, damnit.


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## Heathen1990 (Nov 29, 2011)

I bought a container some distilled water and little containers for the litter. Ima get some cedar sheets from the local guitar shop here. I know to place the cedar sheets on the bottom of the container, but do i lay my cigars directly on them or do i put them on something else?


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## JCMaduro (Aug 18, 2011)

There are a few options to put your cigars in;

1) buy some cedar trays from Cheaphumidors.com 
2) buy some cedar trays from Wineadors
3) get some used boxes from a local cigar store (possible they could be free or very cheap)
4) If your cigars you ordered come in boxes, just leave them in those

Good luck with the set up! Cheers!


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## Heathen1990 (Nov 29, 2011)

Well finally washed the container today, got everything i needed. Now calibrating the xikar hygrometer. Does it matter what the numbers are when i check in the morning?


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## JCMaduro (Aug 18, 2011)

Not really. If its a digital hygro and it is not reading 75% then you just push the button and the display will change to the 75% and it is now calibrated. Do not take it out of the baggie before pushing the button though.


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## Heathen1990 (Nov 29, 2011)

Yea when I calibrated it it came to like 75/69 then i put it in the tupperdor and it was 58/65 so I put those xikar gel humidifier 70% jars. I don't know if im doing it right.


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## jeepersjeep (Apr 27, 2011)

jeepersjeep said:


> It's in the hunting/camping section.


LOL. Yeah, and the salsa is buy the Taco shells. Unless you want the cheap Mexican salsa, its over by the Mexican products. The American salsa is by the tomato sauces and the frozen chicken nuggets isn't in the freezer isles, they are next to the fresh meat. lol.


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